Monkey and the Water Dragon

Without the intervention of an adult to explain the context of the story in this picture book, solo readers may find it difficult to engage with the main characters, Tripitaka a boy scholar, and his animal companion servants, or understand why their journey is important. This is in fact an episode from a much longer Chinese epic (explained in an introduction given on the page containing the publishing details) which relates how the trio undertake to fetch the Buddhist scriptures from India and bring them to China. Troughton’s illustrations, particularly those of the magical goldfish and the fantastic and fearsome Chinese water dragon with which Monkey and Pigsy do battle, are both dramatic and eloquent.